Good American family; Disney about Natalia Grace

[EasterParadeHats]

Has anyone watched this? On really confused about something things

I got obsessed with this Drama and then the documentary this weekend and watched both. Stayed up till the early hours because I got so invested.

I do not understand how they aren't both in prison!!

The Drama series is a bit more ambiguous because the actress playing Natalia is obviously an adult and couldn't possibly be mistaken for a 7 year old, let alone a 7 year old with dwarfism. They tried to help to illusion by casting the other boys too old too (they're supposed to be 7,9 and 12, I think but looked more like 11, 13 and 16) but it makes it harder to sympathise with Natalia.

The doumentary however - she is so obviously a child! Quite a mature looking one who could plausibly have gone through early puberty but still very definitely a child. And, even if there could have been doubt when she was younger, you only have to look at her now to see that 'adult her' is no comparison to 'child her'. In 2023, she's not far off twice as big, has a fully adult female figure and an adult face. She does look 20-25 by then. In 2012, no way - she looks like a primary school aged child. How on earth did the Barnetts get away with it. And thosee neighbours saying how annoying and creepy it was for her to be always hanging around and wanting attention when she was 'clearly 22 - what?! How did they not see an abandoned child!

The newest series of the documentary suggests that she could well be 2-3 years older than her birth certificate states. But that only means that she was abandoned between the ages of 8 and 11. Not that she was an adult. Even 11 is still a baby in terms of independent living. Just horrifying. I've only jsut started series 2 though so I am aware it gets more ambiguous.

Just finished ep 6. The Barnetts seemed so desperate to adopt that they didn't ask questions etc re previous adoption, re having to pay for previous surgery . But if they were lying and Natalia didn't do all those creepy things, why did they want to get rid of her? And while I don't know the US system, could they not have tried to send her to an orphanage (assume they exist there)? Surely easier and better for all than the re-aging stuff?

I think maybe she did do all the weird things even though she was young? They seemed to be too concerned about what people would think.

just watched this. I didn’t know much about it before so for me it was such an interesting crazy watch. Can’t believe it’s real. Now watching the doc!

Have seen the entire documentary and now the show. The show surpassed my expectations with the casting of Michael Barnett (who is half the reason to watch the documentary).

The adoption process in the US is extremely difficult (lots of background checks, home visits, letters of recommendation, follow-ups, etc) and the circumstances leading to the adoption of Natalia were extremely shady by American standards. I believe that the adoption agency responsible for that adoption closed quickly following it. Placing a child for a second adoption in the US is also very rare and difficult, usually involving what is ultimately a private adoption rather than one that is through the foster system and typical protocol.

The Natalia Grace story is not a black and white situation and it's hard to know who to believe at times, but I do believe that this was a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder and that it was too much for the Barnetts and the family before them. It's really too bad we never got to know more about that first American family who adopted her but they have never wavered in their silence.

The Barnetts should have given her back up for adoption rather than re-aged her, in my humble opinion. It's all very sad. But I do think that Michael had a good heart but was/is a deeply troubled person.

The Manses are opportunists and even worse than the Barnetts in most ways. Natalia is now with the DePauls, where she should have been all along (instead of ending up with the Barnetts.) It's a tragedy that her first American family didn't allow the DePauls to take her as planned.

There are no orphanages in the Unites States. It's a foster care system and in some states, it's treated as a crime to try to give an older child up for adoption, as it qualifies as neglect and could result in the authorities at least threatening to take away the other children in the household and placing them in foster care.

@Portakalkedi I’m guessing she had some challenging behaviours which would be expected of a child who’s start in life had been as traumatic as hers plus the constant pain from her disability. The parenting techniques that worked with their autistic son didn’t work and they were over their heads with very little support.
Thry must have known she was only a child though surely. It is a unbelievable story.

Where can I watch the documentary please? Just finished the show.

Its on You Tube, called The Curious Case of natalia grace

Who were the DePauls @MyLittleNest? And were the Manses the ones who were into the Church, went to Court with her & had all the foster children?

Yes, the Manses are the ones with all the foster kids and their own church. The DePauls are featured in the documentary. They are a family with dwarfism like Natalia. They were supposed to adopt Natalia originally instead of the Barnetts, but her first American family shut that down after someone reported them to Child Protective Services and they suspected it was the DePauls. (It might have been Natalia, given that it seems like she made an anonymous call on the Barnetts.) But the first American family blamed the DePauls and didn't let them take her in the end, even though she had bonded with the family.

Thanks @MyLittleNest - I’ll need to watch the documentary.

Binged this, it was really well done. I wasn’t sure how to feel really……. Until I watched the real documentary. Natalia was OBVIOUSLY a little girl when she was with the Barnetts. Very obviously.

Shocking that they weren’t allowed to mention her age, the words “child” or “adult” at all in the trials when it had been proved by then that she was born in 2003 and was a child when all this happened.

Michael is awful. Just awful. He’s not the innocent one he is trying to portray so badly.

Kristine, just wow. No words whatsoever. A monster. The details of abuse that came out in the real life documentary were unfathomable.

Im so emotional watching Natalia Speaks right now, listening to her talking about how she was passed around is just heartbreaking.

The Barnetts being free and facing no consequences whatsoever makes me feel like this is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice I’ve ever seen.

Shocking that they weren’t allowed to mention her age, the words “child” or “adult” at all in the trials when it had been proved by then that she was born in 2003 and was a child when all this happened.

Meyer's Aug. 14 ruling is that Tippecanoe Superior Court cannot alter another state superior court, so Natalia's age is a settled matter in the courts. Meyer's ruling also noted that the same court affirmed Natalia's 1989 birthday after a 2017 hearing.

This is from this 2020 article - I don't know if NG's age has ever been changed back legally : eu.jconline.com/story/news/crime/2020/08/27/prosecutors-prepared-call-natalia-barnetts-birth-mother-prove-ukrainian-orphans-age-neglect-case/3412866001/

Came to see if anyone had watched this (only just watching now) but in between have watched the first documentary and just finished the second series...totally unsurprised that there is a S3 of the doc given the way S2 ended! I really don't know who the villains are, I think everyone involved is troubled (NG included) but all those opportunists around...jeez...I do think she was older than stated but not as old as they had her re-aged too (how can that even be a thing!).